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I've been teaching 8th grade language arts for 5 years, and desperately want to implement literature circles in my classroom. I have tried to implement them several times in the past 5 years, but something always seems to get in the way (i.e. lack of time, lack of resources, lack of proper 'teaching' of how to do literature circles, etc.). I am DETERMINED this will be the year that literature circles come to life in my room.

That said, here are my issues: 1. I teach 60 minute classes (4 per day) of Language Arts, so am required to teach reading, writing, and grammar curriculum. Time is an issue, particularly during the 1st semester when our curriculum is VERY focused on expository and persuasive writing. Where do you find the time?

2. Every time that I have attempted to 'do' lit. circles, students inevitably don't talk about their books. HOW do you get it into their heads that this is the time to talk about the book they chose, rather than the party on Friday? I've t...See More
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Laura Someone mentioned earlier in the thread Harvey Daniel's Mini-Lessons for Lit. Circles. This is a great resource--one that I used last year when trying Lit. Circles for the first time with a 10th grade honors class. Honestly, the most essential lesson to do with students (IMO) is that of teaching them how to create good discussion questions and foll...See More
Jul 24, 2008
new teacher Hi Laura, Could I ask you what books were read in your lit circles? Did groups get to choose anything they wanted, or did you have 4-5 books in mind & then set up groups based on book preferences? Had you read all the books before? Were the books grouped by theme or any other "grouping" quality? Did you continue with other whole-class work duri...See More
Jul 24, 2008
Chele/5/SoCal This is a C&P from another thread. I have many, many sets of 8 books that I offer up for Lit Clubs, a genre (or author study, or...?) at a time. Most any book that might be recommended for 4th, 5th, or 6th graders has been added to my collection. When I show my students my cupboard FULL of books on the first day of school, I admit to them that ...See More
Jul 24, 2008
JGS I teach 5th grade. I tend to pick a theme when I do literature circles. I generally have chosen around 5 books that include a range of difficulty levels. For example, I will begin this year with a "new kid" theme. I've chosen: Hey, New Kid, Anastasia Again, The Kid in the Red JAcket, Knights of the Lunch Table, and Al Capone Does My Shirts. I have ...See More
Jul 25, 2008
Laura On 7/24/08, new teacher wrote: > Hi Laura, > Could I ask you what books were read in your lit circles? Did groups > get to choose anything they wanted, or did you have 4-5 books in mind & > then set up groups based on book preferences? Had you read all the > books before? Were the books grouped by theme or any other "grouping" &g...See More
Jul 25, 2008


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